Turning on her heels, she went back to Isaac’s room to gather her belongings. It only took a second. She couldn’t wait to get out of there. It was time she found other things to occupy her mind besides the mindless pursuit of Isaac McCoy. As she passed Isaac and her father on the way out the door, she stopped to put in one last plug for sanity. “Father, I have lived my entire life to please you, and that’s over. Isaac, all my life I dreamed that you could come to love me as much as I love you, but you can’t. Dad, tell Mother I’ll call. Isaac, I won’t be bothering you anymore.”
Avery walked away and left the two men in her life standing side-by-side, speechless.
*
“DON’T WORRY, SIR. I won’t let her leave town.” Isaac walked Avery’s father to his car. “I’ll handle it. Your daughter will be protected and sheltered by everything the McCoys have to offer.”
Abe huffed and puffed just a bit more. He had worked himself into such a lather, expecting Isaac to refuse to do the right thing that it was hard to let all that angst go. “Well, you see that you do. Avery is a good girl and she wouldn’t be in this mess if she hadn’t set her sights on the likes of you.”
Isaac didn’t try to defend himself. There just wasn’t any use. He agreed with the reverend. Who would have ever thought he would be joining forces with Reverend Sinclair for a common cause? Or that said cause would be to bind himself in the bonds of matrimony to the angel of Kerrville County. At the moment, his angel’s halo was slightly tarnished, but he knew better than anyone how truly perfect she was. It had never been Avery’s intention to do anything but win his love, and if he wasn’t mistaken, she might very well have accomplished that feat.
As he stood there, waiting for the rotund reverend to get in his car, Isaac tested his feelings. No remorse, no uncertainty, no hesitation. He smiled. It was as if her father’s demands had freed Isaac to do exactly what he’d wanted to do all along. He wanted Avery. Standing in front of Hardbodies, he watched the preacher leave and considered what his next step should be. There were a lot of things to get done, from big to small, but his first order of business was to go and persuade his errant fiancé-to-be to move in with him.
*
“IT’S NOT AS bad as you make it out to be.” Harper gazed at Noah McCoy with longing in her eyes. “We could make this work. I won’t go to any of the clubs, if you’ll just work with me. I’ll try to change, but maybe you could change too. If you would just give me a little of what I need.”
“No.” The word was flat. There was no room for argument. Noah hardened himself to the beautiful blonde who sat in front of him. She was shaking like a leaf. If he wasn’t fooled, she was high on something. How could such a promising life go down the drain so quickly? “You’re asking me to do something that I can’t do.” He laid down the law. “I will not have anything to do with the BDSM lifestyle. I will not raise my hand to you. Hitting someone during sex is sick, and I can’t be a part of it.”
A hardened expression came over Harper’s delicate features. “Don’t get high and mighty with me, Noah McCoy. You have no idea how close to home this is to you.”
“What do you mean?”
She pursed her lips as if she would say more. “My kind of people don’t rat on each other.”
She stood up and put a hand on her hip. Noah could see black marks on her arms and a red lash mark on her neck. It made him want to throw up. “I don’t want to know your kind of people,” he replied stoically.
Harper reeled back as if she’d been slapped. “Don’t worry, I’ll find what I need elsewhere. And you…” She jabbed a finger in his chest. “…you will never know what you’re missing. We could have taken pleasure to a whole new realm. You’re an idiot, Noah McCoy, a strait-laced, conservative, no-imagination idiot.” With that, she flounced off.
What in the hell had she meant, ‘close to home’? Noah got up from the corner booth and spotted Joseph and Jacob walking across the bar.
“Where’s Isaac?” Joseph asked, taking a beer off of Doris’s tray.
“In the back with Avery,” Noah volunteered. “There was a dance contest, tonight. You should have seen the show.”
“Oh, we saw it.” Joseph stated nonchalantly as he looked out over the crowd.
“You did? Were you as surprised as I was?” Noah asked with a touch of humor in his tone. He was trying to put Harper and everything she’d said behind him. But it wasn’t easy. Making small talk with his brothers helped.
“Avery Sinclair danced in a bar,” Jacob said with wonder. “That little girl is just full of surprises. I saw what was in the paper. Of course, I’m not judging. I’m sure there’s more to the story than what we read.”
“Did you catch Isaac’s number?” Noah laughed. “I’ve never seen him so determined in my life. He carted her off that stage and into the back like a pillaging Viking.”
“Look, there she goes, and she doesn’t look happy.” Jacob and Noah joined Joseph as they observed Avery leaving the bar. She moved quickly across the floor, her eyes looking nowhere but straight ahead.
“I don’t see Isaac. This doesn’t seem to be ending well.” Jacob sat down at the booth. “Let’s just wait here. I’m sure he’ll be out soon. Then we can get the whole story.”
“May I join you gentleman?” The brothers were surprised to see Zane Saucier standing by them.
Joseph almost jumped. “Man, you’re quiet on your feet. If I didn’t know you were Cajun, I’d swear you had Indian blood.”
Speaking of Native Americans reminded Noah of Skye. “You think Lance’s sister would be my date for the party tomorrow night?”
“Waitin’ till the last minute there, aren’t you brother?” Jacob surmised. “You know how women are. They like to be prepared for these things. No girl wants to think she’s an afterthought or second choice.”
“She’s not second choice,” Noah said quietly.
“What about Harper? Didn’t I see her leaving your table a minute ago?” Zane asked and the others got amused.
“You see more than any blind man I’ve ever known.” Joseph patted his friend on the back. “You got some of them psychic powers like my Cady’s family has?”
“No.” Zane grinned as he sipped his beer. “I heard her voice, I smelled her perfume…she’s the only woman in town who wears Midnight Poison by Dior and Terence sent me over here to see about you. He said it looked like she was giving you trouble.”
“Not anymore. Harper and I are through. We don’t see eye-to-eye on some major issues.” Noah’s face closed off and the others backed down. They could tell when a man was hurting.
*
IT WAS ALMOST closing time and the crowd was beginning to thin down. Isaac made his way back into the bar to check on things and get his motorcycle keys. As he opened the door, he heard familiar voices and knew his brothers had come to call. Sauntering in, he saw Joseph, Jacob and Noah sitting at a table with Zane Saucier. “There he is.” Joseph lifted a longneck in salute. “We’ve been waiting on you.”
“What’s up?” He didn’t sit down. He couldn’t afford to let Avery get too far ahead of him.
“We walked in on the performance of the decade.” Jacob smiled a gotcha grin. “I thought you intended to keep your distance from that little preacher’s daughter.”
“Shoot, he’s got it bad for Avery. You’d have to be blind to miss that,” Zane drawled.
Isaac held up his hands in surrender. “You’re not going to get any argument from me. I’m tired of fighting what I want. I want that little preacher’s daughter. Only trouble is, I think I waited too long. I hate to run out on ya’ll, but she’s on the move and I’ve got to catch her.”
“As the world turns,” Noah commented dryly. “You’ve certainly changed your tune. What happened?”
“No time to explain. If I have my way, she’ll be at Joseph and Cady’s party tomorrow, as my fiancé. But mums the word, and I mean it.”
Doris was standing there with her tray at her side when Isaac
turned to make his exit. “Make sure those deadbeats pay their tab before leaving, Doris,” Isaac said with a wink.
“Yeah, right. Gotcha, boss,” Doris agreed. No McCoy or Saucier would ever have to pay for a drink in his bar. She could read Isaac like a book.
*
HE LOOKED FOR her everywhere. When Isaac arrived at the motel, she was nowhere in sight. Marvin didn’t know anything. He said she’d left the key on the dresser and if he hadn’t been taking the trash out to the dumpster, he wouldn’t have seen her leaving on her Roadster. All he could tell him was that she had turned left. Left could lead a lot of places, but the next thing he had tried, logically, was her house in the modest subdivision behind the park. She wasn’t there. He had even peered into the garage, just in case. It had been empty. Isaac was just relieved no one had called the cops and reported him for snooping around. Where in the hell was she? Isaac was worried that she could’ve left town. Damn! Climbing back on his Harley, he had no choice but to leave it till morning, which wasn’t very far off. Tomorrow was Joseph’s party, so he couldn’t leave town to look for her. If she didn’t show that cute little butt of hers by noon, he’d call her Dad and see if he had a clue to where she might have gone. As Isaac turned toward Tebow, he couldn’t help but smile at the memory of Avery and how incredible loving her had been. “This isn’t over, my Wild Rose,” he promised her. “I’ll make you mine, or I’m not a real McCoy.”
*
“WHAT ON EARTH happened to you?” Tricia Yeager pulled Avery into her living room. “Do you realize it’s three o’clock in the morning?”
Sniffles were all she could manage to get out.
Suddenly, there was light as Tricia flipped a switch. “Are you crying? Are you hurt?”
“One question at a time, please. Can I crash here, just for tonight?” Forlorn, she felt deserted, and she didn’t want to be alone.
Concern colored her friend’s face. “Of course you can, Hon. You know that. Let me help you.”
She’d left the motel and couldn’t face going to her house, not tonight. Isaac probably wouldn’t follow her, but in case he did, she didn’t think she could face him.
“I’m not hurt. Well, just my heart. But, I don’t think that’s fatal.” She let Tricia take her bag and lead her to the couch.
“What are you dressed in?” Never one to mince words, the stacked blonde crossed her arms and surveyed Avery. “Do you know you look like a bag lady?”
Avery fell face forward on the couch in a pitiful lump of self-pity. “Yes, but these clothes belong to him and I’m never taking them off again. I love him.”
“I’ll put on coffee. Why don’t you wash your face and straighten that rat’s nest of hair. You look like Rapunzel after she stuck her finger into an electric socket.”
Yes, this was her friend, Miss Honest. Avery grumbled all the way to the bathroom and then shrieked a little when she looked in the mirror. “I guess safety isn’t the only reason one should wear a helmet.” After taming her locks, she dabbed her face with a washcloth, trying to get a handle on her emotions. What was she going to do? Maybe Isaac would just let this crazy marriage idea go. He might, but her Dad wouldn’t. “Holy Hell, I’m in a mess,” she moaned.
“I can tell you’re upset. You’re cussing, Miss Church Lady. Want to fix your own cup, or do you trust me?” Tricia leaned against the doorjamb and handed her a towel.
“I trust you,” she breathed. “If you have any alcoholic libations, feel free to add them to the mix.”
Tricia whacked her upside the head as she left the room. “That’s the last thing you need. Meet me on the couch and blow your nose.”
“Okay.” She blew her nose, made a pit stop, then stood and smoothed the clothes she was wearing. As she ran her hands down them, she wished she didn’t have to give them back. Tricia was waiting for her, so she went to join her. Accepting the big mug of fragrant brew, she sat down easy so as not to slosh hot coffee on either of them.
“So, tell me what’s got you so stirred up.”
Tricia was so pretty and had such stunning blonde hair. Watching her, Avery wished she were taller and thinner. “Isaac.”
“McCoy, yes I know you’ve been in love with him your whole life.” She waited, pinning Avery with a stare.
“He wants to marry me.”
Tricia choked, setting her coffee down on the table in front of her. Avery had to smack her on the back. “What did you say?”
Avery rephrased the information. “Well, he didn’t ask me to marry him. He told me we were getting married.”
Tricia coughed. “Isn’t that your fondest dream?” Apparently, she didn’t see the problem.
“It’s complicated. Did you get a newspaper today?”
Tricia spoke slowly, as if speaking to a child. “Yes, I always do. But, I haven’t read it yet. Today was a busy day at the shop, and my partner hasn’t been keeping regular work hours.”
Avery made a face at her. Glancing around the room, she spied the Kerrville Daily News and got up to fetch it. Folding it to highlight the photo, she handed the damning evidence to her friend. “You’d better read this. You might not want to be in business with me anymore.”
Taking it without looking down, Tricia grinned at her. “What did you do, rob a bank?”
Avery just stood there. Tricia looked, pulled the paper closer and looked again.
Wait for it, wait for it.
“Holy Mother of God!”
There it is.
“You’re a hooker! When did you become Pretty Woman?”
Avery almost laughed at the horror on her friend’s face. “I didn’t turn any tricks. What I did was stay at the Shady Lady Ranch for a few weeks, but I was only there to learn how to please Isaac.”
“You what?” Tricia cracked up. She held her sides, she was laughing so hard. “You, Avery Rose Sinclair, Miss Perfect, took sex lessons from prostitutes? I don’t believe it.” She paused, and then asked with a straight face. “Are you any good?”
Avery threw a pillow at the amused girl.
“Actually, I might be. Isaac seemed pleased.” She couldn’t help but smirk.
“You, Dawg!” Tricia pushed Avery on her butt. “You had sex with hunky Isaac McCoy? And he wants to marry you?” Her mouth was wide open in surprise. “You must be good.”
Avery’s skin flushed. She muttered something under her breath, but Tricia didn’t stop talking.
“I don’t understand why you aren’t looking at bridal magazines. I expect to be maid of honor, by the way.”
Sitting on the floor in front of the couch where she had landed, Avery rested her head on her knees and confessed with a more somber tone. “He only wants to marry me because Daddy saw the article and blamed him for the whole thing. My father showed up at the bar today to confront Isaac and caught me and him, you know, almost naked.”
“Shit!” The off color word was said with a wealth of emotion. “What did you do? I can’t imagine. Your dad, the preacher, almost caught you doing the dirty!”
A fresh groan escaped Avery’s lips. “I know!” She’d been so focused on Isaac, she hadn’t given her father much thought. “The shock could have killed him.”
Tricia recovered before she did. “I want to know more about the whorehouse. How did your DIY sex-experiment happen to make the papers?”
Avery got up and sat down beside her. “The women were good to me and gave me the run of the place. I got to sit in when customers came, just like I was one of the girls and they taught me all sorts of dances, and uh, techniques. But I always practiced with toys, so no man ever touched me. One day, someone from here came to the ranch and recognized me. Madam said that this mystery man kept asking questions about me and I guess, obviously, he took my photograph with his phone. He must have had local contacts, because it made the Nevada paper, but I never dreamed it would ever run here. Guess I was wrong, huh?”
“Looks like it.” Tricia stared at the image. “Why didn’t you wear a wig or contact
s, or do something to disguise yourself?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t think about it. My motivation was pure, so I was just happy being myself.”
Turning to glare at her with a wicked grin, Tricia teased. “Lord, I bet this spreads like wildfire. Are you ready to be a celebrity?”
“Oh, God. Kill me now.” Avery sighed and suffered, aloud. “I just hope it doesn’t get out that I write racy romance novels.”
This time Tricia almost fell off the couch. “What did you say? Are you trying to kill me? Do I even know you?”
Avery frowned, not happy that her friend was having such a good time over her problems. “I write love stories. Most of them are mild, but the last one was a bit risqué. But don’t worry, only the girls know my pen name, Sable Hunter.”
“You told them your pen name? What if they happened to mention that information to the mystery guy…the one from here? This could come back to bite you in the ass.” It was obvious Tricia was excited; the ugly words were coming easier.
Avery hadn’t thought of that. “Why would anyone care what I do?”
“Because it would be the most luscious piece of news to hit the Hill Country since LBJ was sworn in as President, that’s why.” Tricia got up and started pacing, waving the paper around. Avery watched her, helplessly. “You’re well known in these parts. Everybody thinks you’re just about perfect, your reputation WAS sterling and now everybody finds out you’ve spent time at a brothel AND you write smut?!? Are you kidding me? We’re lucky CNN hasn’t arrived to interview you!”
“Well…” Avery paused, looking perturbed. “Well, hell.” Her disgust made Tricia laugh. “Since you put it like that, Dad will have a stroke if he finds out I’m writing erotic romances.”
“I can’t believe you told those women your business, talk about letting the cat out of the bag. You have a big mouth, you know? Huge. I could probably put a saucer in there sideways.” She was joking, but Avery got her point.
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